This entry was posted on May 6, 2019 at 1:00 PM and has received 1540 views. Print this entry.

As the 86th Legislature draws to a close, a series of end-of-session deadlines begin to take effect. Below is a list of deadlines that occur next week:

• Monday, May 6: Last day for house committees to report house bills and house joint resolutions.
• Tuesday, May 7: Deadline for house to distribute last House Daily Calendar with house bills and house joint resolutions.
• Wednesday, May 8: Deadline for house to distribute last House Local and Consent Calendar with consent house bills.
• Thursday, May 9: Last day for house to consider house bills and house joint resolutions on second reading on House Daily or Supplemental Calendar.
• Friday, May 10: Last day for house to consider consent house bills on second and third reading and all third reading house bills or house joint resolutions on House Supplemental Calendar.

Bill statistics for the period of Nov. 12, 2018 - April 26, 2019 are below.

This entry was posted on April 29, 2019 at 4:40 PM and has received 1106 views. Print this entry.

This entry was posted on March 11, 2019 at 1:00 PM and has received 2182 views. Print this entry.

Thursday, February 21 marked the 45th day of the 86th Regular Session. That means we're 3/4 of the way to the 60-day bill filing deadline, which is Friday, March 8, 2019. For those who are curious, here is a look at bill statistics in comparison to a similar period last session.

This entry was posted on February 22, 2019 at 10:10 AM and has received 2238 views. Print this entry.

This post includes a list of guides published by Texas legislative agencies to assist you in following the legislative process. These guides will help you track and read a bill, understand the terminology used in the Texas Legislature, learn about issues facing the Legislature, and much more.

 

The Legislative Process in Texas, prepared by the Texas Legislative Council (2018).
Summarizes how legislation moves from introduced bill to signed law.

How a Bill Becomes Law: 86th Legislature, prepared by the House Research Organization (2019).
Details the legislative process, with an emphasis on the Texas House Rules (HR 4, 86R) and their influence on procedures.

Reading Statutes and Bills, prepared by the Texas Legislative Council.
Presents a basic overview of Texas statutes and bills, as well as tips for reading and understanding them. (Now an online source; previously was available as a PDF.)

Texas Legislative Glossary, prepared by the Texas Legislative Council.
Defines terms related to the legislative process in Texas. (Now an online source; previously was available as a PDF.)

Research Spotlight: Legislative Lexicon, prepared by the Senate Research Center (2019).
Provides definitions of words, terms, and phrases used in the Legislature.

Writing the State Budget: 86th Legislature, prepared by the House Research Organization (2019).

Outlines the budget writing process in Texas and defines key terms.

Budget 101: A Guide to the Budget Process in Texas, prepared by the Senate Research Center (2019).
Explains how the budget is developed in Texas; designed for new staff or those unfamiliar with the budget process.

Topics for the 86th Legislature, prepared by the House Research Organization (2018).
Highlights many of the issues the 86th Legislature may consider during its 2019 regular session.

 

 

 

This entry was posted on February 19, 2019 at 9:00 AM and has received 1847 views. Print this entry.

Do you need to track bills by code or find out how a particular bill would change the statutes? Check out the LRL's Index to Sections Affected (ISAf). Librarians already have indexed more than 2,300 bills this session, and they are continually entering data for the 86th Legislature as bills are received throughout the day.

 

Search features include:

• Search by the Code/Statute—e.g., Government Code, Ch. 824 (right)
• Search by Bill—find all the code sections affected by a bill (especially helpful when looking at a Sunset bill or a large omnibus bill)
• Limit search results by bill type (House or Senate, bill or resolution) and/or version (introduced, house and senate committee reports, engrossed, enrolled, vetoed, or any)
• Link to the current statutes in your search results

ISAf additionally is helpful to determine the status of the law after a session has concluded and before the online statutes have been updated.

 

Also, you can subscribe to ISAf to receive updates in an RSS feed. 

This entry was posted on February 12, 2019 at 10:00 AM and has received 1853 views. Print this entry.

 

• View committee meeting information, both for today (with agendas) and past (with agendas, witness lists, and/or minutes).
• View committee member lists for standing committees and committee lists by session, from the 1st Legislature to present.
• Search for committees by member name or committee member name.
• Explore interim reports and other legislative reports published by legislative committees, back to the 1st legislative session.
• Search for legislative committee minutes and related documents for the 63rd-77th Legislatures. (Minutes from the 78th-85th Legislatures can also be searched here; they are available through Texas Legislature Online.)
• Review standing committee appointment lists sorted by committee back to 1991.

This entry was posted on February 6, 2019 at 10:00 AM and has received 1136 views. Print this entry.

This entry was posted on February 1, 2019 at 9:00 AM and has received 2085 views. Print this entry.

Check out the LRL's state budget timeline as you follow the budget process for the 2020–2021 biennium. The Senate and House's preliminary funding recommendations will be posted when both bills are filed, as will the governor's budget recommendations.

 

You can click through the timeline to see what is scheduled to happen in each date range. The LRL will add links to documents as they are released.

 

Past budget timelines are available in PDF form just below the timeline, as well as a variety of other budget resources. Be sure to check back for updates as budget planning progresses for the upcoming biennium.

This entry was posted on January 22, 2019 at 2:30 PM and has received 1785 views. Print this entry.

This entry was posted on January 3, 2019 at 8:58 AM and has received 1051 views. Print this entry.